Michelle Fairley has said she will not be making an appearance as Lady Stoneheart (Picture: HBO)

Lady Stoneheart might not be that important

The resurrection of Catelyn Stark was a genuine jaw-dropping moment in the books and one of the biggest twists of A Song Of Ice And Fire. So far Lady Stoneheart has mainly just gone around killing Freys, but there’s been a lot of speculation as to how her story arc will eventually end. We’re still hoping the GOT gang are bluffing when they say she won’t appear in the show, but if not it certainly suggests her storyline won’t have a significant impact on the major players of ASOIAF. Will we see Lady Stoneheart killing off minor characters who don’t make it onto the show? A showdown with Jaime Lannister – which could result in his death – has been commonly bandied around as a potential conclusion to Catelyn/Stoneheart’s storyline, but this seems highly unlikely if Stoneheart is being completely omitted from the show. Similarly a Stark family reunion seems pretty improbable too – although that was always too close to a happy ending to be plausible anyway…

The fate of Tyrion Lannister could change

Tyrion is definitely a popular character among book readers, but Peter Dinklage’s excellent portrayal has pushed the Lannister outcast’s popularity to dizzying levels. The series coped with the losses of big characters like Ned Stark, Robb Stark and Joffrey were big, but it’s near impossible to imagine the show working without Tyrion. Will this impact on the books? Possibly. He’s always been an interesting character, but his huge popularity on the show will hopefully mean he sticks around for a while yet. Unfortunately, this also means he’s almost certainly going to die towards the end in some dramatic manner. There are two things we can rely on in both the show and the series: valar morghulis, and George RR Martin enjoys nothing more than to kill everyone we love.

George RR Martin has been impressed by Natalia Tena’s portrayal of Osha (Picture: PA)

The character of Osha will get an overhaul – but we’ll hopefully get more Rickon

This is the one area where George RR Martin has admitted he definitely will be influenced by the show – it’s just a case of to what extent. Wildling Osha is rather different on-screen to her literary counterpart, but it’s a change Martin is more than happy with. The author has said he plans to change Osha’s personality to reflect Natalia Tena’s portrayal – and give her more to do in the forthcoming books. This presumably means we’ll see more of Rickon, a character so rarely seen it’s easy to forget he’s actually a member of the Stark family. Whether or not he’ll actually do something remains to be seen.

Victarion Greyjoy probably won’t end up on the Iron Throne

Victarion isn’t exactly a top contender to emerge victorious in the struggle for power at the end of ASOIAF, having been glimpsed only briefly before A Feast For Crows. But his name is still at least in the frame. The Iron Islands have only been seen once in four series and show watchers haven’t even heard of Victarion, so it seems highly unlikely that he’ll be the last man standing at the end of everything.

Superfluous characters are probably going to get killed

As with most book-to-TV/film adaptations, a fair few non-major characters have been cut entirely. So what will happen to these characters in the books? Will Strong Belwas find himself quickly dispatched in The Winds Of Winter? Obviously a fair few will be kept around regardless, but we’re sure Mr Martin will relish the excuse to kill off a few characters…